Broadcast vs. cable: How the top shows stack up

AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’

Media people are always wondering how cable compares to broadcast.

The vast majority of the top shows on television air on broadcast.

But the top spot continues to be occupied by a cable program, which is also the most expensive scripted series on television when it comes to commercial pricing.

Yes, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” continues to slay all competitors in both ratings and dollars.

The show utterly dominates in adults 18-49. For the week ended March 19, the most recent Nielsen ratings available, “Dead” averaged a 6.5 rating in the demo, according to live-plus-three-day-DVR-playback numbers.

That was 30 percent ahead of the No. 2 show, NBC’s “This Is Us,” which posted a 5.0 for its season finale.

And it was more than double what No. 3 program “Grey’s Anatomy” (3.2) rated.

But it’s not just in ratings where “Dead” is well ahead of broadcast. The show averaged a price of $332,300 per 30-second spot during February, according to Nielsen, better than any other program on broadcast or cable.

It even bested the NBA All-Star Game, which averaged a $320,100 price last month.

The most expensive show on broadcast last month was “The Big Bang Theory,” nearly $100K behind “Dead” at $248,0777. “Us” was the second-most-expensive program on broadcast.

Broadcast rules the top 20

Still, while cable does have “Dead,” its ratings otherwise don’t compare well to broadcast’s highest-rated shows.

Just two other programs, a TNT basketball game and VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta,” made the weekly top 20 in the demo.

Just one more, AMC’s “Into the Badlands,” made the top 30. And “Badlands” owed its strong finish to “Dead” – it airs behind the smash show.

Down the list, cable’s standing improves. Thirty-one of the top 100 programs aired on cable,

Telemundo had an impressive five shows in that top 100. Univision’s first, “Vino de Amor,” popped up in a tie for 106th.

Tags: broadcast, broadcast vs. cable, cable, cable vs. broadcast, the walking dead, top shows